Royal Enfield Thunderbird 500x road test review

Sporty & Macho

By: P.Tharyan ; Photography: Afsar Baig & Neeraj Panwar

Jun 05 2018

Royal Enfield has always had a fan
following among people made of a sterner stuff. Petite boys avoided buying it
because it required you to be tough in all sense to own and ride one. Over the
years, though Royal Enfield has improved its bikes in terms of technology, a
lot of issues still need to be ironed out. We check out the new Thunderbird
500x.

The new Thunderbird 500x is similar
to the Thunderbird 500, except for a few design changes here and there that have
made the bike a lot more exciting in terms of appearance. Except for the fuel
tank, the entire motorcycle is bathed in black colour. We had at our disposal a
blue coloured bike which meant that the tank was blue in colour and the wheel
had a thin blue stripe around the tyre. The model name Thunderbird 500X printed
on the bike has the ‘X’ in blue colour. The black and blue combination gives
the bike a sporty look. The Thunderbird 500x comes with a smart tank badge with
the name ‘Royal Enfield’ in black colour embossed on the either side of the
fuel tank, alloy wheels and tubeless tyres. The seat is one single large piece
and they come with new grab rails. But there is no back rest, like all sporty
bikes. Besides, the seat is a bit of a squeeze when it comes to accommodating a
pillion rider. But if the rider and the pillion are slim, the seat is decently
large to accommodate them. The handlebars have a sporty stance to it, which in
essence means that long rides on this bike could tire you like crazy, taking a
toll on your back. It’s definitely a city bike. The chopped mudguard gives the
bike a bobber like appeal.

The twin pod instrument cluster is
a big letdown. The analog speedometer and tachometer look dated. One of the
pods houses a digital screen which gives you information like your trip
reading, odometer reading, fuel levels, etc. The designers and engineers at
Royal Enfield needs to work on the dials and make sure they are more readable
than just being a show piece. They can, for instance, keep the face of the dial
limited in terms of few relevant digits and also make them bolder so as to make
it more readable when one is riding. The motorcycle has projector headlamps
with a smoked finish that look good.

Engine and
Performance of Thunderbird 500x

Once you start the bike, it
trembles like your great grandmother’s hands. When you are on the move, you
realize the vibration from the bike can be a little disconcerting.

Both the wheels come with discs but
sadly there is no option for an ABS. Now that is absolutely sacrilegious in the
two-wheeler world of ours, at least in these modern times. The front brakes
comprise of 280mm ventilated disc with double piston caliper, while for the
rear there is a 240mm ventilated disc with a single piston caliper.

The Thunderbird 500x is powered by
a Single Cylinder 4 Stroke, Air cooled, 499cc engine which produces around 27.2
bhp @ 5250 rpm and a peak torque of 41.3 Nm @ 4000 rpm. The engine is mated to
a 5-Speed transmission. Thankfully you have Electronic Fuel Injection rather than
the conventional carburetor.The Front
suspension comprises 41mm forks with 130mm travel, while the rear suspension is
made up of twin gas charged shock absorbers with 5-step adjustable preload
which have a 80mm travel.The motorcycle
has a ground clearance of 135mm.

When you start the motorcycle, the
thumping sound from the good old Enfield bike is missing. Here the sound is a
lot flatter. And once you are on the road, you are pleasantly surprised by its
agile nature. It has a decent acceleration and most important it takes the
rough with a lot of ease. The Thunderbird 500x has an imposing presence on the
roads. But what the company needs to do now is to iron out several of its
issues on the technical front. At the end of the day, it’s not a bad bike at
all and neither is it old fashioned.

Verdict

The design of an Enfield bike just
cannot get dated. It’s iconic in nature and riders would continue to love it
despite a few of its niggling issues. Every bike is made for a purpose. Some
excel on the tracks, some in the jungles, while an Enfield is meant for the men
among us!

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